Wu Fei officiates the final match of the China Open Table Tennis tournament in 2017. Photo: Table Tennis World

Wu Fei, deputy chair of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Umpires and Referee Committee (URC), told the Global Times that the end of 2025 marked one of the most important moments in her professional career.

During a workshop organized by Wu in November 2025 in Beijing's Peking University, she was promoted to an ITTF Advanced Referee, the top level of ITTF referee, meaning that she is qualified to serve as head referee at three top-tier international table tennis events, the Olympic Games, the World Table Tennis Championships, and the World Cup. There are only 11 Advanced Referees worldwide and three of them are from China. 

In December 2025, she was honored to officiate as deputy head referee at the Mixed Team World Cup held in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, where China thrashed Japan 8-1 to win its third straight title.

Currently working as the deputy director of the Department of Physical Education at Peking University, Wu said that her long-standing experience officiating at major international competitions enables her to stay attuned to the evolving direction of international table tennis rules. 

"Only by staying at the forefront of rules and competition can I earn the respect and affection of my students," she noted. 

Wu was re-elected as the deputy chair at URC in 2023. This is the highest position ever held by a Chinese referee at the international level. The URC is mainly responsible for the supervision, training, and selection of table tennis referees and umpires for international competitions, as well as the revision and development of technical documents. 

The URC has an important say in the selection and cultivation of young international referees and umpires. It also plays a significant role in the appointment of referees and umpires for major international competitions.

Balancing her academic role at university and officiating role at international events, Wu said that "I hope to contribute Chinese wisdom and strength to the development of global table tennis."

Handling incidents

Starting her career as a national umpire, Wu earned her ITTF Blue Badge Umpire qualification in 2007, which is the highest level of umpiring one can achieve. Since then, she has taken part in four Olympic Games, growing from competition venue supervisor at Beijing 2008 to the deputy head referee at Paris 2024. 

Compared with the umpires that spectators see on the court, who are responsible for calling and displaying the score and indicating service changes among other roles, the referee works largely behind the scenes. Their main duties include assigning on-court umpires, ensuring consistency in the application of rules, overseeing the overall enforcement of regulations throughout the event, and handling unexpected situations during matches, such as a player's request to change a racket, according to Wu. 

During the 2025 World Table Tennis Championships in Doha, Qatar, in May 2025, Chinese player Wang Chuqin had to change his racket after his equipment was allegedly mishandled. Wang Chuqin found part of the rubber had come off his blade before a mixed doubles second round game. 

The head referee must step in to handle such situations and decide whether a player is allowed to change a racket. Wu recalled that she also dealt with controversies at the Doha worlds.

"After the men's singles quarterfinal match between An Jae-hyun of South Korea and Hugo Calderano of Brazil, I was surrounded by players and coaches from the South Korean team. They lodged a complaint that Hugo bent his fingers during the serve, making his serve illegal. I explained the decision to them in accordance with the rules. The ball was on Hugo's open palm when he served," she said.

For Wu, one of the tough challenges was her stint working as a researcher for the Chinese national table tennis team, the top team worldwide. 

At the time, the players she was responsible for were Ma Lin and Wang Hao (the current coach of national women's and men's team). Beyond analyzing match tactics and strategies, she also had to conduct in-depth research on opponents, which came with immense pressure. 

"It was a truly valuable experience. Looking back, I feel that after having done research work for the national team, the challenges that followed seemed easier to handle. 

Later, encountering Ma and Wang Hao again at major tournaments was especially interesting, as I was intimately familiar with their every move and habit," she said. 

She said that a deep understanding of table tennis tactics and techniques is precisely the advantage Chinese umpires and referees possess. 

As China's national sport, table tennis in the country has a large player base and a high volume of matches, so Chinese umpires naturally achieve a level of proficiency higher than their counterparts in other countries. 

Gaining a voice

One of the six members of the URC, Wu said China is gradually gaining a voice on the international stage, a result of long-term accumulation. 

For Chinese umpires to step onto the world stage, essential qualities, she said, include proficiency in officiating, strong communication skills, and the spirit of teamwork.

Chinese athletes' mindset toward competition is also changing. In the past, the focus was mainly on winning matches, but now they present a charming and respectable image of China on the international stage, earning the respect of global fans. Fan Zhendong is one such example.

Fan, who plays for FC Saarbrucken Tischtennis in the German Table Tennis League, was voted Player of the Month for December 2025. 

He claimed his first overseas club title after leading the club to a 3-1 victory over TTC RhonSprudel Fulda-Maberzell in the German Cup final match in January. 

Since Fan's arrival in June 2025, the followers of the club's Sina Weibo account has grown from 10,000 to nearly 500,000.

Wu said that her entry into the URC stems from her diligence and refusal to take shortcuts. She has continued to push herself to improve her professional skills, knowing that only by making herself strong can she seize new opportunities.